A Captain and His Dog
by WolfoftheMoonStorm
Summary: What happens when one soft-hearted Captain finds a puppy all alone in the snow? He adopts it of course!


**Chapter 1**

**Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I know that's early, but I won't be near an internet connection on Thanksgiving so I'm wishing you a happy one early.**

**I know I haven't updated recently, and I'm sorry about that. The Fall Semester is coming to an end, so I have projects, essay, and tests galore. It is just stressful and I decided to stop writing FanFiction for a while so I wasn't so busy. That, and all the boring essay I had to write gave me writer's block. Whoever invented Junior year was insane.**

**So, here's the first chapter of my new story. Just for all of you so you know I didn't die. I'll hopeful "see" you all again soon, since I think I'm working my way out of my writer's block. **

**Happy Thanksgiving!**

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><p>"Island. Island. Island. Island. Island. Island." Luffy changed excitedly, ignoring the cold air nipping at his nose. Exactly six hours ago, Nami had told him they would reach an island later in the day. True to character, Luffy barely let his crew haves moment of peace in his excitement. Now that the island was in sight, they could all take a breather while Luffy stood still and watched the island steadily approaching.<p>

It was a normal island for once. Four seasons, no strange creatures, port towns, and people. It was like being back in the East Blue. Still, it was an island, and to Luffy an island was exciting. Especially since it was snowing. The island was in the middle of winter, and everything was covered in a thick layer of white powder. Even the ocean had a thin layer of frost on it. There was a grand total of five port towns and two inland towns on the island. The uncivilized places were small forests and plains. The normalcy was soothing to the Straw Hats, who were looking forward to a regular trip for once. They were heading towards the poorest port town on the island. It was a little run-down, but it had a homey, welcoming feel that immediately put them all at ease. From what Robin had discovered, the people there were hard-working and kind, and had no qualms with pirates as long as they remained peaceful. All in all, Nami had declared it sounded like a restful, safe stop and for once didn't chew Luffy out in a reminder about not running off. Not like he listened anyway.

It just ruined his fun.

Luffy jumped a bit when something soft flew through the air and his Haki trained senses tingled in warning. He turned around quickly and snagged the object out of the air reflexively. He blinked at his red coat and looked up at Nami, who was bundled up. The others were filling out onto deck and gave him a few funny looks.

"Aren't you cold yet, Luffy? It's been a while even for you." Usopp asked quizzically.

Luffy blinked and continued staring blankly at them, "Cold?"

Luffy frowned at the thought.

"3…2…1…" Nami sighed.

"Ah, it's cold!" Luffy exclaimed and tugged the coat on, shivering. The rest of the crew collapsed in exasperation where they stood. "What're you doing, minna?" Luffy asked innocently. Nami sighed and shook her head, and just gave out the orders to dock.

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><p>"Let's go!" Luffy shouted excitedly and launched himself off the ship, grinning like a madman. The townspeople around him gave him a few funny looks, but some of the others just smiled at him.<p>

"Luffy!" Nami shouted from the boat and Luffy reluctantly turned to look back at her. "C'mon, minna!" Luffy shouted back excitedly. There was a flurry of activity from the ship and Nami, Zoro, Usopp, and Sanji were heading towards him. Luffy smiled widely, chaperones or not, his nakama were coming with him.

Luffy bounced happily in place and followed his nakama through town, making sure to investigate everything while he was at it. Nami dragged them towards a clothes store, and Luffy was about to complain but Nami best him to it by handing him some meat, Zoro some sake, and telling Sanji to go look around elsewhere for what he needed. Luffy grinned and sat down next to Zoro, already working his way through his food.

Luffy tipped his head back when something cold landed on his nose and laughed happily when he saw snow beginning to pour from the skies. "Na, Zoro! Help me make snowman!" Luffy begged, practically emitting enough child-like enthusiasm to block out the sun. Zoro cracked open his one eye and finally nodded. "Shishishi!" Luffy pulled the swordsman to his feet and ran out into the deeper snow, already bundling it into a ball.

When Nami came back out, Luffy had already built 23 snowmen and was working on a snow castle with Zoro's help. A few of the local children had popped up and decided to help as well, their excited giggles turning the whole thing into a snowball fight. Luffy grinned and ducked a snowball coming his way, nearly colliding with Nami.

"Oy, shit-Captain! Watch it. You almost hit the beautiful Nami-swan." Sanji swooned as he walked through the snow.

"Ah, sorry Nami." Luffy agreed safely and continued with his snowball fight, successfully nailing Zoro in the back. Luffy blinked and laughed when he didn't duck in time and Zoro threw another snowball that hit the captain square in the chest. The kids immediately pounced and pelted the pirate captain with snowballs, covering him in a mound of white powder. Luffy just smiled and climbed his way out of the snow, pouting a little when Nami dragged them all away to head for another store.

Luffy paused for a moment when an odd sound reached his ears, waiting to hear it again. After a moment, he just shrugged and was about to take a step forward when he heard it again, just louder.

Without waiting for the others, he took off down an alleyway, Haki senses stretching out in front of him. "Woah!" Luffy exclaimed as he took a sharp turn and slipped on a hidden patch of ice. He reached out and barely caught himself on a crate, using it to pull himself back onto the snow and keep running. He picked up the pace when he heard the sound again, much louder now.

Luffy slowed and walked around the next turn into a dead end, and looked down when he heard a startled yelp. A small puppy sat shivering in the snow, looking up at him uncertainly. It whined again, sneezing slightly from the cold. Instantly, Luffy was sitting in the snow, pulling the poor thing into his lap and tugging his coat around it.

"Hey, boy." Luffy said softly, stroking the puppy's head to get him to relax. The pup immediately snuggled into his coat and whined again, but this time it sounded much happier. Luffy smiled, shifting his coat a little to get a better look at the puppy.

He had long, floppy ears and a long tail. His muzzle was short and blunt since he was a pup, but it was already starting to tapper out into a longer snout. His teeth were tiny, but sharp, and Luffy blinked at the feeling when the puppy nipped his fingers happily. The little dog sure had powerful jaws. He had a medium brown coat and a black spot on his back, around his right eye, his hind left paw, a tiny dot on his tail, and a slightly larger one on his bottom jaw. His eyes were a warm hazel.

Luffy smiled as the puppy pawed at his shirt, yipped happily and circling around in his lap playfully. Luffy grinned, "I've decided! I'm going to keep you!" Luffy exclaimed and picked the puppy up to scratch his back. _Now what to name you?_ Luffy thought.

"Luffy, we can't keep it." A voice spoke to his right and Luffy turned and looked up pleadingly.

"But-!"

"No, you can't keep it, Luffy." Zoro repeated firmly.

"But, Zoro~!" Luffy begged, "We can't just _leave_ him here!"

"Luffy. _No_." Zoro, Nami, Sanji, and Usopp sighed simultaneously.

Luffy pouted, "Meanines. Why not?"

"We can't take proper care of him considering out lifestyle. We don't even know how to train him. He belongs _on land_, not a ship. Besides, he might get hurt." Usopp explained exasperatedly while the others nodded behind him.

"Rover will be fine! He's a good boy." Luffy replied stubbornly.

_"__You named him?!"_ Zoro sweat-dropped and Sanji face-palmed.

"Yup!" Luffy replied happily and Usopp deadpanned silently.

"Great, now he'll never let it go." Nami groaned.

"I'm sure we can figure something out." Usopp suggested positively, the first to accept the new situation. "Besides, Rover could be good for Luffy."

"Uh-huh. How so?" Nami answered rhetorically in a monotone and crouched to look at Rover. Luffy tightened his hold on the pup a bit, nervously awaiting the wrath of his navigator's temper. Nami jut examined Rover for a minute.

"Oh, fine." Nami surrendered, "But everything he needs is coming out of your food budget, Luffy."

Luffy smiled and nodded. He was willing to give up some of his food to keep Rover. Besides, he could _probably _figure out a way to get it back later.

"Arigato, Nami!" Luffy exclaimed and hopped to his feet, bolting towards the ship before the four crewmembers could change their minds.

Luffy stopped on the _Thousand Sunny _and put the squirming pup down, laughing as Rover ran around unsteadily on his little legs to investigate everything in sight.

"Welcome to the crew, Rover!" Luffy laughed happily when the pup worked his way over to him again. Rover just yipped excitedly and licked Luffy's nose. Luffy grinned, holding Rover in one hand and waving to his returning nakama in the other.

Saying they looked surprised was an understatement.

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><p><strong>Hmm, here's to hoping you enjoyed this first chapter. As an important note, I'm not going to constantly try to update this. "Relapse" is probably more important at the moment, and this story is new so I have a while to finish refining the details of my plans for this story. Sorry if you end up loving this story and have to wait like three months for another chapter. I'm going to work really hard from here on out to avoid that.<strong>

**I'm actually kind of irritated though, because i couldn't find a good cover art/picture for this story. :( It's kind of... depressing or something.**


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